Cgc

Tuesday night and we're out again. God, I have to figure out how to stop going out less. My body is still sore from morning practice today so I regret not staying in and taking a long, cold shower instead. I guess I'll either have to wake up early and do that or just practice with this soreness tomorrow morning. When we get to the bar, we slide into the booth we always normally sit at in the back. I let everyone make their way in and sit at the edge of the cushioned booth next to Rhys.

I wince slightly as I lower my body down. I fucking hate morning workouts. As soon as we're all set, a waitress immediately comes to our table and takes our orders. I order water for now and the guys tease me about it. They say I'm "changing" which is not true at all. I just don't want to rush my two beer limit so I'll start with water.

"Oh, by the way," I say, getting everyone's attention "I invited a friend. She's new to Oak Hill so I wanted to introduce her to a couple of people. AKA you guys," I tell them. "Basically, I want to fuck her, so I'm being overly nice," I smile a fake one. Maddy rolls her green eyes. "Of course," she says "I was waiting for the extra part." She knows me well. I'm sure they were all confused, I could read it on each one of their faces. I don't invite girls to hang out with my friends, this is a first. She's special, really.

"Wait, who?" Rhys asks next to me. "Brynn," I say. He met her earlier but I'm sure he remembers that. He never questioned me about it once we got home. "Brynn? A tiny blonde?" Maddy says, catching my attention. I smile, "That's the one." I'm aware that they probably got acquainted by now since they live in the same hall. "Whoooa, seriously?" Rhys asks me, brows furrowed. I nod as the waitress returns with our drinks. I hit my straw against the wooden table to pull out my straw and stick it inside my glass.

"We going for blondes now?" Valdez asks, one eyebrow arched. I roll my eyes. I've dated one blonde girl and that was in high school. Nothing against them but I'm typically into brunettes. It's just a preference. "She's literally the prettiest girl I've ever seen. Blonde or not. You'll see once she gets here," I tell them, one hundred percent serious. "I thought I was the prettiest girl you've ever seen?" Maddy asks with a frown. My eyes widen and Xander snaps his head towards me.

Fuck.

"I never said that," I say, calmly. I definitely said that but Xander doesn't have to know that. Plus, I take it back. Brynn definitely takes that title. She narrows her eyes at me. "I didn't," I say, shrugging. "Yeah, he said I was the prettiest girl he's ever seen!" Rhys says. Everyone looks at him like what the hell. He knows Xander better than I do so he's probably just trying to relieve the stress off his friend. I'm pretty sure it's been long enough now to know that Maddy and I are no longer. I don't even like thinking about it.

Also, I said that thing about her being the prettiest girl before she and Xander were ever together. I'd never say that to her with the knowledge that she was dating one of my friends. "You definitely said that, no need to lie. You're right." Xander shrugs his shoulders and takes a swig from his Corona. Maddy looks at him like she wants to kiss him. Yeah, those two? They're too horny for their own good. They never rest. I make a disgusted face at the thought. "Okay, I said that, but I take it back. Wait till you see this girl," I jut my head toward the entrance even though Brynn still hasn't shown up.

"He will not be looking at any other girl," Maddy says, glaring daggers at me. "Fine, you be the judge. You saw her already, what do you think?" I ask her. She rolls her eyes again. "Nothing," she says. I furrow my brows in confusion. "What do you mean nothing?" I ask her. She sips on her water and shrugs. "She means nothing to me, I don't care. She's irrelevant." Okay, I take it back. She hasn't gotten nicer since she openly started dating Xan. Her words don't phase me though. I could care less about her opinion.

My phone buzzes in the pocket of my jeans.

Brynn: here. THEY DIDN'T ASK FOR MY ID, you were right! but where are u? my anxiety is top-notch...

I don't text her back, instead, get up and go find her. I see her immediately, distracting herself with her phone as she stands at the entrance of the bar. I smile at the sight of her and her head shoots up at me. She tucks her phone in the back pocket of her white jeans. I try my best to not give her a once over. "Oh my God, I started getting nervous," she says. I chuckle as we start to walk back to the booth. "I took less than a minute," I tease her. She shakes her head. "My anxiety is terrible," she tells me. I make a mental note of that as we reach the booth again.

"Guys, this is Brynn," I say. She gives everyone an awkward smile and wave. "Brynn, these are my roommates Rhys, who you met earlier, Xander, Valdez, and well Maddy who I'm sure you met earlier too." She gives Maddy another small smile but Maddy looks at her uninterested. The smile on Brynn's face disappears at that but everyone else greets her. I let her sit first and glare at Maddy for being rude. If she ruins my chances of getting with this girl, I'm going to be a dick.

Brynn scoots in next to Rhys and I sit down after her, calling down a waitress. "So Brynn, where did you transfer from and why?" Valdez says. He's pretty straight up like me. I'm sure I asked her the same thing the night we met. "What can I get you?" The smiley waitress asks Brynn. "Uh, I'll just have a water, thanks," she says with a small smile. Once the waitress leaves, Brynn turns her attention back to Valdez. "University of Miami, and I just needed a new start. My parents are from here so I figured why not."

She's super shy, but luckily Valdez doesn't make her feel awkward. He nods his head, taking in what she tells him. "So why are you befriending someone like Cgc?" Xander asks, smirking. Maddy glares at him and I see Brynn catch that. Why doesn't she like her already? "Oh, he- or we just. . . met at that party yesterday, so. He was alright, I guess," she says, more hesitantly this time. I put a hand over my heart. "You guess?" I ask. She turns to face me and looks at me, worried that she answered wrong. She reminds me of Nova a bit.

"Don't worry about it, I'm kidding," I look towards Xander "she befriended me the same reason you did." I wink at him. He grins, taking a swig from his beer. Xan and I have never been the closest of the four of us but I still love that guy like a brother. We just clash a lot which is fine. I do the same with Valdez and we're still close. "Why's that?" he asks. I point at my face. "Look at me," I joke. I'm sure that's not entirely why. We just happened to be at the same place at the same time trying to accomplish the same thing. Pissing at a party. True story.

So, no, it is not Xanders' reason. It's not like he's gay. At least, I don't think he is.

The waitress returns with Brynn's drink, putting it in front of her. "Oh, so you're interested in sleeping with Cgc then?" Maddy asks her, sipping on her water from the black straw. Brynn chokes on her water a bit, catching herself quickly. I roll my eyes and shake my head. She's being aggravating right now. "No, I just- we- I'm new and it's hard to make friends. He offered so I mean. . . might as well, right?" she stutters. Maddy looks at her blankly. "So you're not interested in him?" Maddy asks again. I try my hardest not to flip her off right now. "Shut it, ice queen," I say to her then look at Brynn "you don't have to answer that," I tell her.

"She's always like that. Don't let her scare you, she's nice," Xander tells Brynn. Maddy glares at him again and slaps his arm lightly. "I am not nice," she turns to Brynn "I am not nice," she repeats again. Valdez rolls his eyes and shakes his head, probably wishing his girlfriend was here right now. I'm sure Nova would be nice to Brynn. Dammit, when is she coming home? She left me with the fucking impossible of hoping Maddy wouldn't be cold towards this new girl.

She is, Xander mouths to Brynn when Maddy isn't looking. No, she's not, I want to say. She has her days and even at that, she'll pick and choose who she wants to be friends and get along with. "I'm not interested in Cgc," Brynn sort of whispers. What? Hell. I clench my jaw and look away shortly. Why did I invite her here then? Maddy laughs at this and this time, I do flip her off. "I mean like, as more than a friend. I just don't do dating or hookup culture," she admits.

I don't say anything anymore. "No, actually thank you. Cgc needs his ego deflated every once in a while," Maddy laughs as Xander rubs her back. "My ego isn't deflated. I'm don't like her like that, we're just friends," I shrug and take a sip from my water. I'm obviously interested in her but she's not interested in me. I won't get mad over it, I'll just move on. It's really that simple. She smiles at me still. I don't return it. "Sureee," Maddy winks. I hate her.

"Anyway, Brynn, tell us more about yourself. I'm sure Cgc plans to keep you around since he invited you out with us," Valdez says. He's making it seem like I like her, what is his problem? I don't even bother to glare at him. "Oh well, I'm from Los Angeles, majoring in biology, I'm 20 turning 21 next month, and I uh, cheer. I'm part of the team," she smiles awkwardly. She's kinda cute. "Oh, nice. You'll be at our games then?" Valdez asks, taking a swig of his beer. She smiles, more comfortably now and nods. "All of you play football then?" she asks.

I nod. "Quarterback, running back, receiver, and then the loser on defense at safety," I say about Valdez. I'm joking obviously. He rolls his eyes at me. "I think defense is cool actually," Brynn says. "Watch it, he has a girlfriend," Maddy snaps. Brynn looks at her and shakes her head slowly. "I didn't mean it like that, I just like watching players on both sides of the ball," she says. Alright, Maddy's pissing me off now. Will I ever talk to this girl again? No. But she's still too nice to be run over. At least she's taking her attitude better than Nova would.

"Yeah, chill out," Valdez says. Xander stays quiet with his arm hanging loosely around her waist. "So you actually like football then?" I revert the conversation back. She nods, "My brother plays and I've been a Chargers fan since I was a little kid." Both Valdez and Rhys make a face as they go for the other LA team, the Rams. I'm a Saints fan so I don't really care about either LA team. "What about you guys?" she asks. "Rams fans all around except for C," Xander says, pointing at me. "Saints all the way, I'm from NOLA," I tell her.

Her eyes widen slightly and she smiles. "Really? That's so cool, I've always wanted to go," she says excitingly. At least she's getting more comfortable. "Right? To try the seafood there?" Rhys says, smirking at me. Brynn nods, "Yeah, it probably tastes amazing there. You have to recommend some places in case I ever visit." Xander and Valdez snort and I groan. "I don't have any recommendations, I'm fucking allergic to seafood," I say, annoyed, but not really.

When people think about New Orleans and Louisiana, one of the big things is the seafood. I, a resident of said place, happen to be allergic to our most popular dish. Brynn's mouth gapes a little and then she laughs. "That blows," she says. I glare at her, not as harsh as I do at other people. "But he's pretty, so it doesn't matter," Valdez says. Everyone laughs except for me. Before I can say anything, I'm distracted by a hand on my arm. I turn my head at the touch. "Hey, Cgc," Olivia says.

Olivia and Alexa - two girls I know - stand in front of me. Well, this is awkward. All of my friend's eyes narrow in on me. "Hey, girls," I say sort of uncomfortably. "Want to come to hang with us by the bar? We're doing shots with a couple of other people," Olivia asks. I hear Rhys snort lowly. "Ahh, maybe later," I lie "we just got here so I don't want to go too crazy right now." Olivia nods as her hand slides down to my hand. "We'll be here," she says before they both leave. I mistakenly check her out as she leaves and when I turn back around, all eyes are still on me.

I hold in a groan. "So you're not a ladies' man?" Brynn asks before taking a sip from her water. I told her earlier that I wasn't and I guess that scene just wrote fucking liar across my forehead. "Jealous?" Maddy prompts. Brynn turns to face her. "No, God, can't I say anything without you adding something snarky to it?" she retorts. She catches all of us by surprise as no one outwardly comes back at Maddy's comments. Besides her boyfriend and me occasionally. It's different when it is another girl doing it.

Maddy's face shows anger and Brynn's contorts a bit. "Sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out that way," Brynn apologizes. "Don't apologize to her. You're right," I say dryly, looking at Maddy but speaking to Brynn. I didn't know whether or not Brynn was interested in me but I know now by tonight that she's not. She said she's not into hook-up culture or relationships. I wasn't looking for the latter, but she's not interested in either of those things anyway.

Maddy's being flat-out rude. While I normally wouldn't say anything about it, Brynn doesn't deserve this attitude from her so I won't condone it. I'm glad she stood up for herself. That is before she took it back by apologizing. "Whatever, I don't care," Maddy retorts. How the hell did she and Novalee get along when she was new to campus? Why's Brynn any different? I roll my eyes, frustrated, at the comment. This is going to be a long night.